Self Catching Fish

By Hannah Isom

In evolutionary terms, a fish that voluntarily leaps into a net doesn’t sound too clever. But if you're a farmer, it sounds like pure genius.

Marine biologists have scaled new heights by training black sea bass to swim into a net every time they hear a tone that signals feeding time. The aim is to allow farmed bass to be allowed to roam the open ocean and then swim back to be harvested on demand – sort of like free-range fishes.

As well as making life a breeze for fishermen, it's hoped the scheme will boost depleted wild bass stocks by acclimatising the fish to the open seas whilst feeding them until they find their fins.

The research was headed by Simon Miner at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Wood’s Hole, Boston. His team trained the fish by sounding a tone for 20 seconds, three times a day, followed immediately by dropping food into a “feeding zone” that could be accessed by a small hole.

After two weeks of this intensive workout, Miner found he had created “remote-control fish”. "You hit that button,

and they go into that area, and they wait patiently," he said.

The plan now is to figure out how long the fish will remember their new skills. As bass are notorious for having memories like… well… fish, the fear is that after a few days they will forget that the tone means it’s dinner time.

Randy MacMillan, president of the National Aquaculture Association, isn’t convinced that the fish won’t just swim away or be eaten by bigger fish. He said, “My experience with fish is they will wander far and wide.”

About 5,000 black bass will now be transported to a feeding station called an “AquaDome”, which be anchored to the sea floor 45 miles southeast of Boston.

For more from Hannah, check out her fantabulous homepage. Our try another fishy story from the Null: